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defrogOh, like you didn’t know this was on the way.
DISCLAIMER: If yr favorite movie isn’t here, it’s likely because either (1) I didn’t get a chance to see it, or (2) it hasn’t been released in Hong Kong yet (Robert Rodriguez’s Machete comes to mind). Also, if some of these seem kind of old, it’s because their release date was 2009 for yr country, but 2010 for Hong Kong.
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2010
1. Fantastic Mr Fox
2. Inception
3. Kick-Ass
4. Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec)
5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
6. The Ghost Writer
7. Shutter Island
8. The Hurt Locker
9. How To Train Your Dragon
10. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A Serious Man
The Book Of Eli
Predators
WORST FILM I SAW IN 2010
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2010 (EXTENDED EDITION)
1. Fantastic Mr Fox
I’m off and on with Wes Anderson, but this stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book really knocked me out, with Anderson decorating dysfunctional family relationships with a storybook aesthetic and brilliant, funny dialogue. It’s also proof that you don’t have to dumb down a story to make it suitable for kids (assuming Anderson even made it as a kid’s movie, and assuming kids who saw it liked it).
2. Inception
The hype may or may not be justified, but Inception is an amazing film anyway. It might not be Nolan’s greatest achievement (and to be fair, Memento is hard for anyone to top), but despite a few flaws here and there, Inception proves you can still make a high-concept intellectual blockbuster. Sure, you can say DreamScape did something like this before, but that’s like saying there’s no point in making films about time travel or bank robberies gone wrong, because hey, that’s already been done.
3. Kick-Ass
A snappy, reasonably fresh twist on the superhero genre and as much a commentary on the role of superheroes in pop culture as a straight action flick. And it’s funny as hell, provided you have a black sense of humor and can deal with the idea of an 11-year-old girl brutally murdering bad guys and swearing a lot.
4. Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec)
Based on the Franco-Belgian comic book, this is the sort of good, weird fun you’d expect from a decent Luc Besson film, filled with oddball characters and sly satire both on govt bureaucrats and the Indiana Jones-style adventure genre from which it borrows somewhat. It’s also a little clunky at times, and the main character Adele is a little underbaked, but Louise Bourgoin gives her a charmingly plucky, determined edge.
5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Zany surreal slaptick mixed with some not-so-subtle commentary on runaway technology, gluttony, the cost of a free lunch, how society values good looks and idiocy over smarts, and the obligatory father-son bonding routine. In a word, wacky. Wacky is good. We need more wacky in cinema.
6. The Ghost Writer
Pretty good as political thrillers go, not least because of Roman Polanski’s minimalist touch as a director – he doesn’t do fancy camera shots or OTT action scenes. He keeps it old-school, without relying on gimmicks to distract you from the mysterious and increasingly paranoid tension of the situation, which makes a nice change from the usual Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer school of political thriller. Shame about the final scene, mind.
7. Shutter Island
The “twist” is pretty clichéd (and I’d read the book, so I knew it was coming anyway), but it does work better in a film format than a novel. And either way, in such cases the secret isn’t the story’s originality but how you tell it, and Martin Scorsese tells it well. It’s hardly the greatest Scorsese film ever, but it’s still worth watching.
8. The Hurt Locker
Not being too impressed with war films or Oscar nominations, I almost didn’t bother to see this until I found out Kathryn Bigelow was the director. People have argued over its “accuracy”, but I still left the theatre almost feeling as if I’d just come back from downtown Baghdad. It’s flawed – a few plot holes here, some predictability there, and a few scenes you didn’t have to serve in Iraq to know are pure Hollywood drama devices – but it’s a powerful film with strong characterization, and clearly powerful enough to actually get people to start talking more about the combat experience in Iraq.
9. How To Train Your Dragon
Another animated film based on a children’s book I haven’t read that follows the nerdy-outsider formula, but does it really well. The basic story is pretty familiar and somewhat predictable, but the characterization, quality jokes and action more than make up for that – so much so that I’m willing to overlook the puzzle of just why all the grown-up Vikings have Scottish accents.
10. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inevitably this film always be known as Heath Ledger’s last gig and be judged by the fact that Terry Gilliam had to struggle hard just to get the damn thing finished, which in itself is an accomplishment. But for all that, it’s also Gilliam’s best film since at least 12 Monkeys (with the caveat that I haven’t seen Fear In Loathing In Las Vegas or Tideland). Also, bonus points for casting Tom Waits as The Devil.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A Serious Man
On the one hand, it’s the kind of family drama stuff I generally don’t care for. On the other hand, leave it to the Coen Brothers to make a family drama film based on the Book of Job. Good, but they’ve done better.
The Book Of Eli
Which gets a mention in part because it’s better and more thought-provoking than I thought it would be, and because no one ever said it wasn’t fun watching Gary Oldman play another psychotic villain. Flawed, but engaging.
Predators
If we have to have more Predator films, this was a pretty good way to re-energize the franchise – by (1) abducting humans to a planetary game preserve, and (2) pretending all the other sequels never happened.
WORST FILM I SAW IN 2010
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
I suspect the Disney suits who green-lighted this thought, “Sure, movies based on video games traditionally suck, but hey, we make movies based on park rides, so we can do this.” Anyway, the cliches are pretty thick, the action impossible to follow half the time, and I almost fell asleep twice. Alfred Molina as the comic relief is good fun, but apart from that I got almost nothing out of this.
FUN FACT: PoP:TSoT narrowly beat out Legion in this category by virtue of the fact that the latter has Dennis Quaid in it.
If I could turn back time,
This is dF
DISCLAIMER: If yr favorite movie isn’t here, it’s likely because either (1) I didn’t get a chance to see it, or (2) it hasn’t been released in Hong Kong yet (Robert Rodriguez’s Machete comes to mind). Also, if some of these seem kind of old, it’s because their release date was 2009 for yr country, but 2010 for Hong Kong.
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2010
1. Fantastic Mr Fox
2. Inception
3. Kick-Ass
4. Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec)
5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
6. The Ghost Writer
7. Shutter Island
8. The Hurt Locker
9. How To Train Your Dragon
10. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A Serious Man
The Book Of Eli
Predators
WORST FILM I SAW IN 2010
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2010 (EXTENDED EDITION)
1. Fantastic Mr Fox
I’m off and on with Wes Anderson, but this stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book really knocked me out, with Anderson decorating dysfunctional family relationships with a storybook aesthetic and brilliant, funny dialogue. It’s also proof that you don’t have to dumb down a story to make it suitable for kids (assuming Anderson even made it as a kid’s movie, and assuming kids who saw it liked it).
2. Inception
The hype may or may not be justified, but Inception is an amazing film anyway. It might not be Nolan’s greatest achievement (and to be fair, Memento is hard for anyone to top), but despite a few flaws here and there, Inception proves you can still make a high-concept intellectual blockbuster. Sure, you can say DreamScape did something like this before, but that’s like saying there’s no point in making films about time travel or bank robberies gone wrong, because hey, that’s already been done.
3. Kick-Ass
A snappy, reasonably fresh twist on the superhero genre and as much a commentary on the role of superheroes in pop culture as a straight action flick. And it’s funny as hell, provided you have a black sense of humor and can deal with the idea of an 11-year-old girl brutally murdering bad guys and swearing a lot.
4. Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec)
Based on the Franco-Belgian comic book, this is the sort of good, weird fun you’d expect from a decent Luc Besson film, filled with oddball characters and sly satire both on govt bureaucrats and the Indiana Jones-style adventure genre from which it borrows somewhat. It’s also a little clunky at times, and the main character Adele is a little underbaked, but Louise Bourgoin gives her a charmingly plucky, determined edge.
5. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Zany surreal slaptick mixed with some not-so-subtle commentary on runaway technology, gluttony, the cost of a free lunch, how society values good looks and idiocy over smarts, and the obligatory father-son bonding routine. In a word, wacky. Wacky is good. We need more wacky in cinema.
6. The Ghost Writer
Pretty good as political thrillers go, not least because of Roman Polanski’s minimalist touch as a director – he doesn’t do fancy camera shots or OTT action scenes. He keeps it old-school, without relying on gimmicks to distract you from the mysterious and increasingly paranoid tension of the situation, which makes a nice change from the usual Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer school of political thriller. Shame about the final scene, mind.
7. Shutter Island
The “twist” is pretty clichéd (and I’d read the book, so I knew it was coming anyway), but it does work better in a film format than a novel. And either way, in such cases the secret isn’t the story’s originality but how you tell it, and Martin Scorsese tells it well. It’s hardly the greatest Scorsese film ever, but it’s still worth watching.
8. The Hurt Locker
Not being too impressed with war films or Oscar nominations, I almost didn’t bother to see this until I found out Kathryn Bigelow was the director. People have argued over its “accuracy”, but I still left the theatre almost feeling as if I’d just come back from downtown Baghdad. It’s flawed – a few plot holes here, some predictability there, and a few scenes you didn’t have to serve in Iraq to know are pure Hollywood drama devices – but it’s a powerful film with strong characterization, and clearly powerful enough to actually get people to start talking more about the combat experience in Iraq.
9. How To Train Your Dragon
Another animated film based on a children’s book I haven’t read that follows the nerdy-outsider formula, but does it really well. The basic story is pretty familiar and somewhat predictable, but the characterization, quality jokes and action more than make up for that – so much so that I’m willing to overlook the puzzle of just why all the grown-up Vikings have Scottish accents.
10. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inevitably this film always be known as Heath Ledger’s last gig and be judged by the fact that Terry Gilliam had to struggle hard just to get the damn thing finished, which in itself is an accomplishment. But for all that, it’s also Gilliam’s best film since at least 12 Monkeys (with the caveat that I haven’t seen Fear In Loathing In Las Vegas or Tideland). Also, bonus points for casting Tom Waits as The Devil.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A Serious Man
On the one hand, it’s the kind of family drama stuff I generally don’t care for. On the other hand, leave it to the Coen Brothers to make a family drama film based on the Book of Job. Good, but they’ve done better.
The Book Of Eli
Which gets a mention in part because it’s better and more thought-provoking than I thought it would be, and because no one ever said it wasn’t fun watching Gary Oldman play another psychotic villain. Flawed, but engaging.
Predators
If we have to have more Predator films, this was a pretty good way to re-energize the franchise – by (1) abducting humans to a planetary game preserve, and (2) pretending all the other sequels never happened.
WORST FILM I SAW IN 2010
Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
I suspect the Disney suits who green-lighted this thought, “Sure, movies based on video games traditionally suck, but hey, we make movies based on park rides, so we can do this.” Anyway, the cliches are pretty thick, the action impossible to follow half the time, and I almost fell asleep twice. Alfred Molina as the comic relief is good fun, but apart from that I got almost nothing out of this.
FUN FACT: PoP:TSoT narrowly beat out Legion in this category by virtue of the fact that the latter has Dennis Quaid in it.
If I could turn back time,
This is dF
